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Can anyone explain WHY Pikachu is the go-to mascot?

Besides it being popular in the manga/TV show, can anyone really tell me why it seems to be the go-to Pokemon mascot? From a trainer's viewpoint, its stats are sub par (even Raichu isn't that much better)and if cuteness sells, I can list at least 10 more who are cuter and have better stats.

They chose Pikachu instead of Clefairy to be the franchise mascot mainly due to it being yellow instead of pink. It is cute as Clefairy, but its color have appeal to both girls and boys. Pink is still heavily related to girls (now imagine how it was in the 90s). Raichu's appeal isn't that great. It is bigger, chubbier, etc. Although personally I like its design more than Pikachu's.

Stats? Do you really think they would consider STATS when choosing the mascot? Please. xD

Have in mind that not every ~trainer~ care about stats and stuff like that... Pokémon is a franchise with appeal for all kinds of players. To some what matters is the design of a 'mon and like it or not, Pikachu has a very good and appealing design.

TIME: Pikachu is sort of marginal in the game. But it's now the best-known character. How'd that happen?

Tajiri: When they did the anime, they wanted a specific character to focus on. Pikachu was relatively popular compared with the others and potentially both boys and girls would like it. They heard a lot of opinions about this. It wasn't my idea.

The best evolutionary designs are brought about by a balance between change and consistency.Artwork by Piper Thibodeau. You can view more of her work here.

I know Clefairy was going to be a mascot at one point but they chose yellow and somewhat manly but cute for girls Pikachu. I don't get it. Pikachu and Raichu look EXACTLY the same in cuteness. Both were chubby in the old games and Raichu has a cool Tail. Meh, I just one of the few People who can't see why Pikachu is so popular.

I don't know if Clefairy was ever flat out stated to be the original planned mascot. What they did intend was Clefairy to be the starter Pokemon for the anime (if I remember correctly, one of the earliest manga series of the time had Clefairy as the starter). And from there, due to that popularity, Pikachu became the official mascot of the franchise.

The stats are irrelevant of the mascot status. It has broad appeal and is heavily featured in promotional materials and in the anime.

I'm part of the staff at Project Pokemon! Smod in forums, AOP in IRC, Administrator on Shoddy. Come visit us. Our Project is Pokemon!

I think its probably from the way that Pikachu has always been there from the start... like the ability to catch in Viridian Forest etc. in the early games. But as a figurehead it works really well and I bet some people have pulled it off as competitively viable... and it works fine in game (from experience ).
Reasons for it being a go to mascot : Examples said above and its a fairly simple one that people can relate to, like a pet for example.

Because if Pikachu wasn't the mascot and it was something else, then we've have the exact same question.

Can anyone explain WHY Sandshrew is the go-to mascot?
Besides it being popular in the manga/TV show, can anyone really tell me why it seems to be the go-to Pokemon mascot? From a trainer's viewpoint, its stats are sub par (even Sandslash isn't that much better) and if cuteness sells, I can list at least 10 more who are cuter and have better stats.

Pikachu wasn't the mascot, I doubt you'd have any issue with it. It's only because Pikachu is seen to be the 'poster child' of pokemon that you have any real issues with it. You wouldn't be objecting if it just happened to be any other pokemon.

They could have chosen any of the 150 Pokémon as a "Mascot." Actually Charizard and Venousaur where one of the first two Pokémon you saw when you got the games, as they where on the covers, it could easily have been either of their two lines. It could have easily been any of the starters lines actually...

The Anime ended up doing most of promotion outside Japan, so Pikachu ended up being the first "Mascot" Pokémon. Given the way that the Anime needs to reuse content to produce a weekly episode for the last Decade almost non-stop it's easier to keep using the same "footage," with often Minor Tweeks. So it's easier to keep on using the same "main" characters. (The Weekly count is roughly right, some weeks Pokémon gets a week off, while others two episodes are shown back to back.)

(Another Series takes it to further, as Digimon often fills a full minute just by digivoling, which is purely "reusable" footage. Counting S1-EP49 "The Crest of light", I counted 10 Seconds for one character, and two 5s sequences taking 20 seconds, in one Section, and another 15 seconds for two 7s failed attempts, (footage was played normally then played backwards) and finally 30 second piece.. 65 seconds from a 18 minute episode, (actually 20 Mins, but credits are nearly 2 min). Plus there are quite a few Animation short cuts used in that Episode, can be seen if you know what to look for.)

Probably because, for whatever reason, people seemed to like Pikachu a lot (maybe because he's not very manly like Charizard or Mewtwo, and he's not very girly like Jigglypuff or Clefairy (who I think actually WAS meant to be the mascot)). It's just the Ensemble Darkhorse trope in play, which lead to the Breakout Character trope coming into effect.

They could have chosen any of the 150 Pokémon as a "Mascot." Actually Charizard and Venousaur where one of the first two Pokémon you saw when you got the games, as they where on the covers, it could easily have been either of their two lines. It could have easily been any of the starters lines actually...

The Anime ended up doing most of promotion outside Japan, so Pikachu ended up being the first "Mascot" Pokémon. Given the way that the Anime needs to reuse content to produce a weekly episode for the last Decade almost non-stop it's easier to keep using the same "footage," with often Minor Tweeks. So it's easier to keep on using the same "main" characters. (The Weekly count is roughly right, some weeks Pokémon gets a week off, while others two episodes are shown back to back.)

(Another Series takes it to further, as Digimon often fills a full minute just by digivoling, which is purely "reusable" footage. Counting S1-EP49 "The Crest of light", I counted 10 Seconds for one character, and two 5s sequences taking 20 seconds, in one Section, and another 15 seconds for two 7s failed attempts, (footage was played normally then played backwards) and finally 30 second piece.. 65 seconds from a 18 minute episode, (actually 20 Mins, but credits are nearly 2 min). Plus there are quite a few Animation short cuts used in that Episode, can be seen if you know what to look for.)

Cuteness is subjective, yes not everyone will find Pikachu cute, or will find others cuter, but that's irrelevant, it's a matter of getting the most and Pikachu just happened to get the most love. You may not like Pikachu, others do, a lot of people do and it's became probably the most well known Pokemon, why wouldn't they continue to use it as the mascot.

It's the mascot because that's how it happened, and it'll continue to be the mascot until a significant amount of people start hating it and starts affecting the franchise, which wont ever happen.

I think the original mascot Pokemon was meant to be Clefary, but it was considered to "girlie" so they wanted to use a more neutral Pokemon, another reason they choose Pikachu was because there where not as many yellow mascots, this made them stand out a little more.

Wait, was it decided that Pikachu'd be the mascot after Ash caught him in the series? Because I thought Ash was originally going to have a Clefairy.

Pikachu became the mascot due to its popularity stemmed from the series. Ash was originally going to have Clefairy be his starter due to influence from one of the first manga series, but that doesn't translate into "Clefairy was the original mascot"

I'm part of the staff at Project Pokemon! Smod in forums, AOP in IRC, Administrator on Shoddy. Come visit us. Our Project is Pokemon!